New London man wins $1.4 million Lotto

NEW LONDON, Mo. (AP) -- Thomas Cox heard that someone won the Lotto with a ticket from the convenience store in his northeast Missouri hometown. He stopped what he was doing, checked the ticket, and found out he was the lucky guy.

The Missouri Lottery said Thursday that the 53-year-old New London man won $1.4 million in the Dec. 10 drawing. Cox chose a lump-sum payment of $700,000. After taxes, he'll get $497,000.

Cox had just cut down three cherry trees and was loading them on a trailer when his brother called to say the winning ticket was sold at Abel's Quik Stop. Cox looked over his tickets. The last one had the winning numbers: 5, 9, 21, 30, 27 and 41.

Cox plans to pay bills and put money back for college for his three children, including a daughter who starts next year.